DETROIT (Reuters) – If you want to tackle Detroit’s thousands of abandoned homes and trash-strewn and overgrown lots, there are few better places to start than in Brightmoor in the northwestern corner of the city.

“Brightmoor is arguably one of the most blighted areas in Detroit, which makes it one of the most blighted areas in the country,” said Kirk Mayes, executive director of community group the Brightmoor Alliance. “If you can tackle blight in Brightmoor, you can do it anywhere.”

DETROIT (Reuters) – Defending his decision to approve America’s largest ever bankruptcy filing in Detroit last week, Rick Snyder returned to a point that he has been hitting on since his successful run for governor in 2010: for Michigan to thrive, Detroit must prosper.

“We’re the comeback state in Michigan, but to be a great state we need…Detroit on the path to being a great city again,” the Republican governor said at a press conference on Friday.

DETROIT, July 22 (Reuters) – Detroit’s bankruptcy filing
last Thursday – the largest in American municipal history -
completed a six-decade slide for a one-time industrial
powerhouse. Today the city bears an uncomfortable resemblance to
a failed state: unable to light or police the streets, educate
children, stop arson, or provide emergency care to the dying.

There is, however, a mini-renaissance occurring in the
downtown core. It is here that Detroit might just be carving out
a new identity, this one driven not by cars but by computers.
The Internet-focused businesses springing up have attracted
thousands of young, well-educated, tech-savvy “urban pioneers.”

DETROIT, July 19 (Reuters) – Investors dumped Detroit’s
municipal bonds a day after the city’s historic bankruptcy
filing even as a ruling in state court raised questions about
whether the bankruptcy will stand up to court review.

Attempts by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Detroit’s
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to put a positive spin on the filing
failed to reassure investors. Prices on some Detroit bonds
plunged and there were wider declines in the $3.7 trillion U.S.
municipal bond market.

DETROIT (Reuters) – Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history on Thursday, setting the stage for a costly court battle with creditors and opening a new chapter in the long struggle to revive the city that was the cradle of the American auto industry.

The bankruptcy, if approved by a federal judge, would force Detroit’s thousands of creditors into negotiations with the city’s Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to resolve an estimated $18.5 billion in debt that has crippled Michigan’s largest city.

DETROIT, July 18 (Reuters) – Detroit filed the largest-ever
municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history on Thursday, marking a new
low for a city that was the cradle of the U.S. automotive
industry and setting the stage for a costly court battle with
creditors.

In a letter accompanying the filing, Michigan’s Governor
Rick Snyder said he had approved a request from Detroit
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy
protection noting, “Detroit simply cannot raise enough revenue
to meet its current obligations, and that is a situation that is
only projected to get worse absent a bankruptcy filing.”

DETROIT, July 18 (Reuters) – The city of Detroit filed for
bankruptcy on Thursday, making it the largest-ever municipal
bankruptcy in U.S. history and marking a new low for a city that
was the cradle of the U.S. automotive industry.

In a letter accompanying the filing, Michigan’s Governor
Rick Snyder said he had approved a request from Detroit
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy
protection saying “it is clear that the financial emergency in
Detroit cannot be successfully addressed outside of such a
filing, and it is the only reasonable alternative that is
available.”

DETROIT (Reuters) – The city of Detroit is in final preparations to file for federal bankruptcy as early as Friday morning, the Detroit Free Press reported on Thursday, citing several unnamed sources.

Bankruptcy lawyers and restructuring experts who are following Detroit’s financial struggles say the city’s hand may be forced by lawsuits filed in state court by municipal employees, retirees and pension funds that challenge its right to file for bankruptcy.

(Reuters) – Detroit’s shrinking and largely powerless city council selected new leadership on Tuesday as some members insisted the body is still relevant despite an order from a state-appointed emergency manager that two vacant council seats be left empty.

“The council still has a very vital role to play in the city,” said newly chosen council President Saunteel Jenkins. “As elected representatives of the people of Detroit, it’s our responsibility that their voice be heard.”

About Nick

"Nick Carey is a Chicago-based, British-born journalist who has covered everything from the near-collapse of the Big Three automakers to the U.S. housing crisis. Nick is currently on general assignment, reporting on the human impact of the recession. He previously spent ten years working in central and eastern Europe."